ABSTRACT
An Collins seeks fulfillment through her writing. As a devout and thoughtful Christian, she finds reason for complaint as well as consolation in her task. She embraces the Song of Songs for the voice and vehicle to express the tension between these opposing spiritual attitudes. Among her contemporaries, Collins is unique in the way she uses this great ancient poem, and especially its garden, to develop a formal creative expression of her own experience. And although she primarily works through her own spiritual journey, her best poems grapple with questions all pilgrims face. Why must we suffer? Does God really love us? Is he the father of our human need to create? Is there any justice in the universe? To her credit, she does not find easy answers.
